Barrel.



02- PATENTED JAN. 8, 1907.

J. P. EAST.

BARREL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1 905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 PATENTED JAN. 8. 1907. J. F. EAST.

BARREL.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 9. 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEE T 2.

. amuenlfoz Witt wean JOHN F. EAST, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

BARREL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 8, 1907.

Application filed. August 9, 1905. Serial No. 273.488.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. EAST, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Barrels; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use thesame.

My present invention relates to that class of barrels which are composedof staves and to the construction and arrangement of the staves for usein said barrels, the object being to construct a cheap strong barrelhaving a curve or bulge and which will answer all the purposes of themore expensive stave-barrels now on the market. In addition thereto itcan be shipped in the flat condition, so as to greatly economize spacein cars or vessels in the shipment of the same in such flat conditionand which upon arrival at the point of destination can be readily andcheaply formed into a properly-shaped barrel by unskilled labor.

In my long experience as a practical barrel manufacturer I have observedthat the trade has been in need of a stave-barrel which could beproduced by unskilled laborat much less cost than the ordinarystave-barrel and which would possess all the advantages of such latterbarrels, especially when used for such purposes as the shipment ofapples, oranges, and other products which do not require the barrel tobe water-tight.

In the manipulation of ordinary stave-barrels considerable time andlabor is consumed and expense necessarily incurred in the production ofthe staves and the assembly or setting up of the same in the formationor the completed product by skilled workmen, each stave requiring to beproperly sawed, shaped, and bent and then set up in a former, the latterstep being more or less slow, whereas in my construction and arrangementwhich is about to be disclosed much of this work is dispensed with andunskilled workmen can be employed, and consequently the cost ofproduction lessened.

It is my main object to produce a slack barrel as distinguished from awater-tight barrel or from one which is purposely rendered unventilatedat its ends in the act of manufacture and to produce the same fromstaves preferably made of veneering.

It is of course obvious that, if desired, auxiliaryventilating-apertures may be formed in the staves, which aperturesperform no function in the formation or shape of the barrel, and thatthe formation of such apertures in a barrel of the type I produce wouldnot be contrary to the spirit of my invention, my object being, asstated above, the formation of a barrel from staves in which the edgesof the staves and the V-shaped apertures formed in said staves arebrought closer together during the formation of the barrel. It is theformation of such a barrel as distinguished from one in which the spaceis left between the edges of the staves or between separated walls ofthe staves produced by the formation of U-shaped slots that my presentinvention is designed to distinguish.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one formof the barrel constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of a double stave constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a series of double staves securedtogether in accordance with my invention. Fig. 4 is a sectional view ofa plurality of staves secured together in accordance with my invention,said section being taken through one of the quarter-hoops. Fig. 5 is aplan view of a modified form of a double stave. Fig. 6 is a perspectiveView of a slightly-modified form of barrel. Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof a single stave, the word single being contrasted with the worddouble, in which former construction the stave is substantially one-halfas wide as a double stave and provided with a single slot in each of itsends. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a series of single staves securedtogether in accordance with my invention.

In carrying out my invention I contemplate employing aspecially-constructed machine for uniting the staves. In this machinethe staves are laid flat on the bed-plate thereof with their side edgesin contact from end to end and in this manner are fed into the machinesuccessively beneath the riveting mechanism, and as they pass throughthe machine with their side edges parallel and abutting against eachother the staves are flexibly united by means of rivets or nails passedthrough the outside quarter-hoops in the manner as will be furtherdescribed. By outside quarter-hoops are meant the hoops applied on theoutside of the barrel intermediate the ends thereof and as distinguishedfrom the end hoops, the expression quarter-hoop's being well understoodin the trade.

In order to facilitate the assembling of the staves and to insure thelongitudinal side edges of the staves being parallel and also to lessenthe expense in the production of the staves, the said edges 2 of thestaves 1 are made straight throughout their entire length, so that whena stave is pushed. into the machine above referred to, so as to have itslongitudinal side edge parallel with and abut against the longitudinalside edge of an ad joining stave, the said edges will exactly meet andlie parallel and form a close joint along the entire length of thestaves. If the staves were tapered or chamfered off at each end, as inthe ordinary stave, there would be a tendency or liability of a stavebeing pushed into the machine in such a manner as to bring two of theends together and leave the other ends gapping or spaced apart, whichwould result in the production of a worthless product, and, furthermore,one of the objects of my invention is to dispense with the necessity ofchamfering off the ends of the staves. By having the side edges of thestaves straight and parallel throughout their length ordinary unskilledworkmen can be employed in feeding the staves into the rivetingmachineand the expense of chamfering off the edges of the staves is avoided.The straight longitudinal side edges of my improved stave are beveledinwardly, as at 3, so as to make a tight joint when the bulge or curveis given to the barrel.

The preferred construction of stave is that shown in Fig. 2 of theaccompanying drawings, in which a stave having two slots in each end isillustrated, usually about eight of such staves'being employed in theconstruction of a barrel as distinguished from sixteen employed in theordinary stave-barrel, the advantage of employing this construction ofstave, which I term a double stave, being that an o erator has only topick up and handle half t e number of staves used in an ordinary barrel.The slots 4 in the staves are tapering in form and substantiallyV-shaped and cut from the end edges thereof and extend a considerabledistance inwardly. The slots are so disposed that the width of thematerial outside the slots is equal to. the

Width of the material between the slots, so

that the slots will be equidistantly arranged around the ends of thebarrel and will permit of a uniform bulge and symmetrical formationbeing given to the barrel. By the use of these end slots I am enabled tohave the longitudinal side edges of the stave straight and parallelthroughout their entire lengths, the shape being given to the barrel bycontracting or drawing in the ends of the staves,

which drawing in tends to give a bulge to the barrel and at the sametime close the slots 4 and produce a tight-slack barrel. The greatadvantage in using a V-shaped slot over what might be termed a U-shapedslot or a slot which does not come to a sharp point at its inner end isthat the slot entirely closes up as the ends are drawn in, whereas inthe U-shaped slot only the outer edges come to gether and the inneredges or walls remain separated and form a ventilated barrel. Thegreatest advantage, however, of the employment of V-shaped slots is thatas the ends of the barrel are drawn inwardly and the edges of the slotcome together filst at their inner edges, then gradually toward theirouter ends, the fulcrum shifts from the inner ends of the slots towardthe outer ends of the slots.

Attempts have heretofore been made to produce a tight or unventilatedbarrel from a sheet of veneering having slots cut from its ends andwithout any slits'in the central zone of the barrel, but said attemptshave proven failures and thousands of dollars have been lost in suchefforts. Ventilated barrels constructed from a sheet of veneeri-ng, asshown in my Letters Patent No. 429,021, have been successfully made,thousands of such barrels being produced annually; but such barrel is atotally different proposition from that being considered in connectionwith the pres ent invention, the present invention having in view mainlya slack barrel formed of a sheet composed of a plurality of staveshaving straight longitudinal side edges and provided with 'V-shap'edgores. It is not contemplated to form the sheet of staves inwhich intheact of formation the edges of the staves and the walls or the edges ofthe slots in the staves are brought close together into a completebarrel in the first instance, but to ship the sheets of joined staves ina flat condition to a point of destination and at said point form thesheets into a barrel by unskilled labor, such as is usually employed ona farm.

For uniting the staves together I employ quarter-hoops 5 5, which latterpreferably consist of a strip of wood 6, extending across a sufficientnumber of staves from which to construct a barrel. If desired, a metalstrip 7 may be applied on top of each wooden strip 6 and the two stripssecured together and to .the staves by means of nails or rivets, prefer-6 is that great strength issecured without interfering with theflexibility of the staves to enable them to be formed into a cylinderand afterward into a bulge-shaped barrel but I do not Wish to be limitedto the use of the metal strip. After the staves have been joinedtogether in the manner described they are ready for shipment, and it isobvious that a large number of the staves thus made may be shipped in aflat-car, which is a decided advantage over forming the staves into abarrel at the factory in the first instance and shipping the emptybarrels to the packer or trucker. The sheets of staves upon arrival attheir destination can be readily formed into a barrel by the use ofunskilled labor and a very simple devicesuch, for instance, as anordinary foot-Windl ass.

The barrel thus described is found very useful for shipping produce,such as apples, oranges, and other products. Where it is necessary thatthe barrel should be ventilated it can be readily accomplished, as shownin Fig. 6, by forming apertures, as at .9, either at the center or nearthe ends of the stave, or at both points. vIn the manufacture ofliquidtight barrels, such as whisky and beer kegs, my invention wouldnot be especially applicable, for the reason that such packages have tobe very carefully made and are much more expensive to produce than thepackages conl templated by my invention. In Fig. 7 I have illustrated asingle stavethat is, one having a single slot at each end, as contrastedwith a double stave-and I contemplate employing such a stave in theconstruction of my improved barrel; but I prefer to employ the doublestave, as it lessens the labor, and consequently the cost of theproduction, of the barrel. WVhile I also have shown and described thequarter-hoops as being constructed of a wooden section and a metallicsection and U-shaped rivets passed through the same, I do not wish to belimited to such exact construction and arrangement, as the metallicsection or hoop might be dispensed with and ordinary nails, clenched onthe under side, employed.

While .by my construction and arrangement I produce what might be termedan unventilated barrel as distinguished from a ventilated barrel inwh1ch the ventilation is not produced in the act of forming the barrel,I do not wish to be understood as regarding the provision of ventilatingholes or slots in my particular construction of stave as not fallingwithin the scope of my invention. The provision of holes or slots atdifferent points in the barrel either by the use of an auger or a knifeor by the use of saws during the manufacture of the barrel or aftercompletion of the same is so common that it is immaterial whether suchholes or apertures are provided or not, the essence of my inventionbeing the formation of V-shaped slots in staves, said slots extendingfrom the outer staves into a sheet and, further, the formationof such asheet into a barrel.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A barrel formed from a flexible sheet composed of a plurality ofindividual fiat staves, the longitudinal side edges of each stave beingparallel and straight the entire length of the staves, said staves beingconnected by quarter-hoops and formed with a V-shaped slot cut from eachof their end edges, and end hoops for holding the ends of the staves ina contracted condition and the edges of the V-shaped slots in contactwith each other from end to end thereof, substan tially as described.

2. As an improved article of'manufacture, a flat stave for a slackbarrel having straight, beveled, longitudinal side edges and formed withtwo V-shaped slots in each of its end edges, which extend a considerabledistance inwardly, the slots being so disposed that the width of thematerial outside the slots is equal to the width of the material betweenthe slots, substantially as described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a flexible sheet from which toconstruct a slack barrel and comprising a plurality of individual flatstaves arranged with their side edges contacting from end to endthereof, and connected by means of quarter-hoops; the longitudinal sideedges of each stave being straight throughout its entire length andbeveled inwardly, each stave being formed with a V-shaped slot cut fromeach of its end.

edges and extending a considerable distance inwardly, the inner ends ofthe slots terminating in a point, substantially as described.

4. A slack barrel formed from a flexible sheet composed of a pluralityof individual flat staves, the longitudinal side edges of each stavebeing parallel and straight the entire length of the staves and beveledinwardly, said staves being formed with two V-shaped slots cut from eachof their end edges and held in position by means of end hoops forholding the ends of the staves in a contracted condition and the edgesof the V-shaped slots in contact with each other end to end thereof,substantially as described.

5. A slack barrel formed from a flexible sheet composed of a pluralityof individual flat staves, the longitudinal side edges of each stavebeing parallel and straight the entire length of the staves and beveledinwardly, sai'd staves being connected by quarterhoops and formed with aV-shaped slot cut from each of their end edges, and end hoops forholding the ends of the staves in a contracted condition and the edgesof the V- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature shaped slots incontact with each other, each in presence of tWo Witnesses. quarter-hoop-oonsisting of a Wooden strip and a metal strip, the latter resting ontop of N EAST the Wooden strip, and fastening means passed Witnesses:through the strips and embedded in the staves R031. A. DONNELLY,

of the barrel. ALFONSE MERGER.

